Montana PBS to acquire three stations in underserved region of the state

Montana State University and the University of Montana, which jointly hold the license to Montana PBS, plan to purchase KXGN-TV in Glendive, KYUS-TV in Miles City and the translator station K13IG-D in Sidney for $375,000, according to a license transfer application filed with the FCC Tuesday.

The commercial television properties are currently owned by The Marks Group, a Maryland-based firm founded in the 1980s by the late Stephen A. Marks. According to documents filed with the FCC, the TV stations are the last of the group’s broadcast properties to be sold by his estate.

Under the purchase agreement filed with the commission, the fair market value of the stations exceeds the $375,000 sale price. The contract specifies that an appraisal will determine the full value, enabling The Marks Group to credit the remainder as a charitable donation. Montana PBS must seek FCC approval to convert the stations to noncommercial licenses.

All three stations are in eastern Montana and licensed to communities with small populations. KXGN-TV, a CBS affiliate, is the only commercial TV broadcaster in Glendive and serves a population of less than 5,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census. KYUS-TV is currently silent; its city of license has a population of around 8,300. About 6,300 people live in Sidney.

By acquiring the stations, Montana PBS will expand service to an underserved region of the state, said Aaron Pruitt, director and GM. “What is exciting for us is that we’ve never had free over-the-air public television in far eastern Montana. This will be a first in history for these communities,” Pruitt said.

“It definitely is a challenge to get our signal to every community,” he said. Because of the state’s mountainous terrain and vast coverage area, the Montana PBS transmitter in Billings is the farthest east in its network. Billings is in the south-central portion of Montana. A network of Montana PBS translators broadcasts to communities in northeastern and southeastern corners of Montana, according to its coverage map.

“Adding these very rural stations is very much in the spirit of universal service,” Pruitt said. “We’re trying to make public media available to Americans wherever they are.”

Montana PBS programs five channels: the main broadcast service that distributes local and national programming, PBS Kids, the World channel, the Create channel and the Montana Public Affairs Network, which provides gavel-to-gavel coverage of the state legislature.

“It all is subject to FCC approval,” Pruitt said, but he anticipates that the deal might close this year. When the transfer is complete, Montana PBS plans to host local events to help spread word about the new broadcast service.